Mr. CUA 2021: Not Your Average Competition

Image courtesy of @programboard.cu on Instagram

By Anna Harvey

Early 2000s music boomed from speakers as suited gentlemen maneuvered about the room, greeting both guests and fans alike. But this was no regular beauty pageant; it is Mr. CUA, the most prestigious competition at The Catholic University of America. 

Every year, Program Board holds a nomination and election process several weeks prior to the Mr. CUA competition; those chosen compete in an Oscars-themed event. The various contestants compete in five rounds, with contestants eliminated from the running as they proceed, until only two remain. 

This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic and to allow social distancing, 50 audience members were allowed into the Pryz Great Rooms and the remainder were ushered into the decorated lower Pryz, where the event was live streamed. While there were initially some technological issues with connecting both the live stream and the screen videos to Zoom, which was displayed for other attendees in the lower Pryz, the performance, for the most part, went without a hitch. 

This year’s contestants included Max Dreitlein, Jake Rosario, CJ Moran, Vince Lundy, Mack Martin, Michael Salmon, Austin Nappi, and Alan Cunningham. All of the contestants were introduced with a brief comic video of themselves describing what they brought to the table to be considered for Mr. CUA. 

The event consisted of five rounds, the first of which was a talent competition. Contestants Rosario, Moran, and Alan gave vocal performances. Martin performed a voice impression of Mickey Mouse. Salmon gave a comedy routine, making politics majors the butt end of most of his jokes. Nappi gave perhaps the most active performance, tossing pizza dough to Italian folk music, occasionally hitting audience members due to his less-than-accurate tossing skills. Lundy recited U.S. Presidents 1 through 46 under a time limit. Lastly, Dreitlein wrote a variety of haikus focusing on details of life at CUA: cheesy bread, freshmen wearing Cardinal Cards on lanyards, campus construction blocking out students, Barnes & Noble’s backorders, upper Pryz pasta with too much garlic, the lack of a new dining center and eating Pryz sushi, the comparison of Pryz food to off-campus restaurants, and Dreitlein’s own qualifications to be nominated Mr. CUA.

After Round 1, students scanned a QR code to vote for their favorite contestant, and Salmon was eliminated from the running, likely due to the offended politics majors. 

Round 2 focused on movie trivia, spanning from the 1920s to the present. Questions ranged from “What was the first featured animation movie?” to “Who was the only non-Jedi in the original Star Wars series to use a lightsaber?” Contestants rang a buzzer placed in front of them to answer the question. Correct answers were allotted a certain amount of points, and contestants with the most points advanced to the next round. At the end of Round 2, Martin was eliminated from the standing.

By Round 3, things were starting to heat up. The next challenge featured red carpet interviews, given by hosts Matt Meade and Caroline Ciocco. Questions involved included “Is a hotdog a sandwich?”, “If you could listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?”, “If you have one slogan for your life, what would it be?”, “Who would your celebrity best friend be?”, and “If you could pick three famous people from any point in time to be your friends, who would they be?”

While all five remaining candidates staunchly defended their opinions, only Dreitlein, Moran, Rosario, and Nappi advanced to the semi-final round. 

Building off of the cake decorating competition from Mr. CUA 2020, Round 4 took a slightly different approach, and instead gave contestants five minutes to decorate a cookie to resemble their self-identity within the CUA community. At the end, the contestants showed their delicious results; while all incorporated the theme of CUA colors or the cardinal symbol, some contestants took a creative turn. Moran included a Captain America shield, while Dreitlein added a personal touch, including a heart with “Mom” written on it. 

After judges Victor David, Amanda Ceraldi, and Antwan Harper contemplated, they decided that Dreitlein and Rosario would advance to the finals, which would involve both finalists giving a dramatic, Oscars-esque speech.

After a dramatic match of rock-paper-scissors to determine who would proceed first, Dreitlein took to the stage and thanked the audience, the other contestants, his family on Zoom, his girlfriend in the audience, and the track team for their endless support of his endeavors.

In a similar fashion, Rosario thanked the audience in both the upper and lower Pryz, his a cappella group Take Note, and his family and many friends for their support. He said that he never would have thought that he would be in this position, on stage to compete for Mr. CUA.

Ultimately, Rosario won the title of Mr. CUA. The audience cheered as the hosts of the night awarded Rosario with a crown and a trophy while the song “We Are the Champions” played in the background. 

Rosario later said that his decision to pursue the title of Mr. CUA was based upon a desire to make others laugh and bring a little joy into the currently turbulent world. 

“I’ve always had a fun time at previous Mr. CUAs, and I went into this thing wanting to help others have a good time,” winner Jake Rosario said. “It’s so vital to bring your thoughts away from all the craziness in the world right now. Mr. CUA is also an amazing opportunity to celebrate the different ‘spheres’ of CUA and see amazing gents coming from different backgrounds in our community: we saw Max from athletics, Austin from ministry, Vince from PB, and so on. It’s an incredible reminder that, though we have different experiences on this campus, we’re all one community.”

On the ways in which he prepared for Mr. CUA, Rosario stated that a lot of mental and physical practice went into his routine before the competition. 

“In all honesty, the thought of having to be on stage in front of people made me go to the gym and I’ve actually been pretty good with keeping to it lately. I also made sure I warmed up for my talent—singing uses muscles; you’ve got to stretch them!” Rosario said.

Reflecting upon how he will use his newly-acclaimed title, Rosario said that in addition to continuing to live out his responsibilities on-campus as an RA, he will continue to develop his talents within Take Note a capella and in CenterStage theater company.

“Lastly, I’m going to keep being unapologetically and shamelessly me. I hope that I’m an example that it doesn’t matter how far-flung you are or where you come from— you can be cherished and celebrated by this community,” Rosario said. 

Luckily, as Rosario predicted, all the contestants’ performances provided much-needed theatrics and fun for the pandemic-battered audience. And for many more students, these contestants will likely inspire more students to apply for the much-coveted position of Mr. CUA 2022.